A judge Thursday said the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission appeared to have repeatedly violated the state's open-meeting law during its months of closed-door deliberations on USC's lease of the taxpayer-owned stadium. In pointed language, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Luis A. Lavin said he was prepared to issue an injunction against the commission that would restrict what it could discuss in secret sessions and require it to record all of its private meetings for three years.

This post has been corrected. See note for details. SACRAMENTO -- Tuesday's federal order delaying a looming deadline for California to ease prison crowding comes with an edict that the state not sign any further contracts for private prison beds out of state. The directive comes one day after California signed a five-year, $30-million-a-year contract with Geo Group to lease two prison facilities in Kern and San Bernardino counties, giving the state room for 1,400 prisoners.

Brooke shops at Target, and she's noticed that prices at one store can differ from prices at another, sometimes significantly. She wants to know: Why's that? I put the question to Target, and a spokeswoman explained that different stores in the chain have different fixed costs, such as the lease, taxes, staffing and security. This is common among most big retail chains. That doesn't mean all prices will vary among stores. The prices of discounted items featured in company advertising will usually be the same everywhere.

The University of California has leased an Oakland residence for incoming system president Janet Napolitano for $9,950 a month, officials said Monday. Napolitano, the former U.S. secretary of Homeland Security and former governor of Arizona, will be provided the housing plus an annual $570,000 salary, $8,916 a year for car expenses and $142,500 for one-time relocation costs. Napolitano is scheduled to begin her UC presidency Sept. 30, with her office at UC system headquarters in downtown Oakland.

The mayor of Anaheim came away from Tuesday night's city council meeting convinced that Angels owner Arte Moreno is looking to leave the city the team has called home since 1966. But Angels President John Carpino said the team would use a three-year extension on the opt-out of its current stadium lease to explore ways to remain in Anaheim, not bolt. "Based on the city council's actions, we're hopeful a deal can be made and we can stay in Anaheim for many years to come," Carpino said before the Angels' 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night.

Angels owner Arte Moreno has emphasized to city officials that he has the means and willingness to move the baseball team out of Anaheim. A city consultant told city council members Tuesday that Moreno could move the Angels to Irvine, Irwindale or “at least half a dozen potential sites” in downtown Los Angeles. The warning came as council members voted to allow the Angels to opt out of their current stadium lease as late as 2019, rather than the current date of 2016. "The owner of the Angels has made clear in our discussions he has the resources and willingness to build his own stadium," said city consultant Charles Black, president of CB Urban Development in San Diego.

As the Anaheim City Council voted Tuesday to enter formal lease negotiations with the Angels, a consultant representing the city said owner Arte Moreno has emphasized he has the means to move the team elsewhere. By a 4-1 vote, with Mayor Tom Tait in opposition, the City Council voted to allow the Angels to opt out of their current stadium lease as late as 2019, rather than the current date of 2016. "The owner of the Angels has made clear in our discussions he has the resources and willingness to build his own stadium," said city consultant Charles Black, president of CB Urban Development in San Diego.

A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the government acted correctly when it ordered a Northern California oyster farm to close to clear the way for the first marine wilderness on the West Coast. The 2-1 decision by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals deals a blow to the years-long effort by a Marin County oyster farmer to extend his federal lease in Point Reyes National Seashore. Then-Interior Secretary Ken Salazar refused to grant the extension in November, citing terms of an agreement the former owners of the farm signed 40 years ago as Congress moved toward creating the marine wilderness.

A federal judge ruled Thursday the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs misused its sprawling West Los Angeles campus by leasing land for a hotel laundry, a film studio storage lot and UCLA's baseball stadium, but stopped short of ordering the tenants off the property. U.S. District Judge S. James Otero said the agency had abused its discretion by leasing land for purposes "totally divorced from the provision of healthcare," but delayed enforcement of his order so the government could appeal.

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Jerry Brown is embroiled in potentially costly lawsuit over a Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger-era real estate deal gone bad. At the center of the legal battle is the Golden State Portfolio, a collection of 11 state office buildings, including two in downtown Los Angeles, that Schwarzenegger agreed to sell to investors for $2.3 billion before leaving office at the end of 2010. Schwarzenegger launched the deal to help fill a $25-billion deficit in the recession-racked state budget.